From the Editor: May-June 2018

Photo | Alex Richardson

Welcome to our women’s health issue! We’re not just talking physical health. We’re talking total empowerment in every facet of life, including your career.

Our feature this issue is “Total bosses”: women entrepreneurs who have built unique businesses, and our admiration for them. Let me say that these are not remarkable women entrepreneurs; they are remarkable entrepreneurs. Period. While this issue may be women-focused, these bosses embody all the traits that it takes to get to the top, man or woman.

They’ve all founded and run companies that solve a problem, and in doing so, they’ve risen above the noise. Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart is a longtime friend who is building a truly inspiring clothing brand, Vaute. Vaute eliminates animals from the equation, showing that fur, leather and silk are simply not needed to make beautiful, durable and fashionable clothing.

Meghan Asha has built FounderMade, a one-of-a-kind conference that elevates consumer brands, helps entrepreneurs scale their business and enables shoppers to discover the newest and most innovative products in food, wellness and beauty. Meghan and I got to know one another last year at The Outpost, a wilderness retreat in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Payal Kadakia started and grew ClassPass into an indispensable app that searches for fitness classes with open space in your area (and around the world), and then allows you to enroll in them on your phone, all for one monthly fee. This flexible fitness membership has become part of daily life for thousands of people who have faced the same problem that Payal once did: not knowing which classes had space, and having to manually search them all and pay steep drop-in fees. Problem solved.

We also chat with my friend Heather Jo Clark, a professional fighter, about Unbreakable Performance Center—a gym she and many other pro athletes love. Heather and I met years ago when she was starting off her fighting career. Several years later, I had the honor of attending her first UFC match in Las Vegas. She had an impressive win and has continued to be an inspiration to many women who aspire to follow in her footsteps.

We also feature Power Plates, the latest cookbook by my friend (and prolific food blogger) Gena Hamshaw. It’s a most impressive hardcover, packed with beautiful food photos and, of course, delicious plant-based recipes. We’ve picked some of the best to share with you.

To your ambitions, Brendan Brazier Editor-in-Chief @brendanbrazier